WHEN YOU START FREE­LANC­ING LET PEO­PLE KNOW

A ro­bust net­work is a free­lancer’s best friend. If you’re be­com­ing your own boss, you’ll want to start off by se­cur­ing a group of peo­ple who are ready to sup­port you — and give you work — along the way.

Reach out to the peo­ple clos­est to you to let them know what you’re do­ing, in­clud­ing co­work­ers, for­mer col­leagues, friends, and fam­ily. Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to feel like you’re beg­ging for work. Take peo­ple out to cof­fee or lunch and ex­plain what you’re do­ing.

Think of it as an in­for­ma­tional in­ter­view, clar­i­fy­ing the kind of work you do and let­ting peo­ple know you’re avail­able. Re­mem­ber that net­work build­ing isn’t just for the be­gin­ning of your free­lance ca­reer — as you get busier, don’t forget to set aside time in your sched­ule to con­tinue net­work­ing.